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The UK manufacturing sector continued to weaken in November as recession fears mount, figures on Thursday showed.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global/CIPS UK manufacturing purchasing managers’ index edged up to 46.5 points in November from 46.2 points in October. The October reading was a 29-month low.
With readings remaining below the 50.0 no-change mark, November marks the fifth consecutive month of contraction in UK manufacturing. The reading was one of the UK’s lowest levels during the past 14 years, S&P Global noted.
Among the key issues cited were weak demand, high inflation, and subdued client confidence, as well as political and economic volatility.
‘A lethal cocktail of Brexit, logistics constraints, high costs and low demand contributed to the continued decline in manufacturing output in November which also fed into deteriorating job numbers for a second month in a row,’ said John Glen, chief economist at Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply
‘Manufacturers reduced their operational capacity without the safety net of new pipelines of work as domestic and particularly export orders fell. Evaporating consumer confidence and fewer orders from previously strong markets such as the EU, US and China compounded the problem of a weakening marketplace.’
Looking ahead, S&P said that the deteriorating outlook for output and new orders reined in manufacturers’ optimism during November. It noted that confidence has dipped to its lowest level since April 2020, amid reports of recession fears, weak consumer spending and subdued client confidence.
The S&P Global/CIP UK manufacturing PMI is compiled from responses from surveys sent to purchasing managers at around 650 UK manufacturers, with data collected between November 11 and 25.
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